As The Sun Will Rise
by DeathlyMarshmallows
Summary: Maurice and Prince Adam have a heart-to-heart talk about fatherhood after the birth of the latter's daughter. Made of fluff. Written for Father's Day 2013.


It had all started on Saturday evening, just after eight o'clock. Well, that's not entirely true. It had actually started several months earlier, after Belle and Adam each had one too many glasses of wine at the castle's annual New Year's Eve party and had woken up the next morning in the horse stables lying naked on a pile of hay, but that's a story for another time. They had been having dinner with one Count Richelieu-Marchand when, just as Lumiere entered the room carrying a tray of desserts, Belle clutched her bulging stomach and, in a distressed yet oddly calm tone, cried out, "Adam, it's time!"

Adam immediately flew into action. He helped Belle waddle up to their bedroom, screaming instructions at any servants who passed them along the way. Adam had to give his servants credit. By the time they had finally made it to the bedroom, the midwives were already waiting and Mrs Potts was lining their bed with towels. He propped Belle up against the head of the bed and refused to leave the room when ordered to do so. After all, it was his castle, his wife, and his child. He had every right to be there.

The next thirty-eight hours were an eye-opening experience, to say the least. Adam's respect for Belle grew tenfold as he watched his poor wife struggle through what seemed like a tremendous amount of pain. On Monday morning, when the ordeal finally ended and Adam caught a glimpse of his newborn daughter, the sight of the tiny baby all covered in blood and other fluids caused the poor former beast to pass out onto the floor.

It was all worth it, Adam decided as he looked down at his baby daughter later that night. The tiny girl was swaddled in a mass of blankets. A tuft of golden brown hair sat upon her little pink head. Her right hand, which had come loose from the blankets, was curled into a tiny fist. Her two enormous blue eyes stared curiously up at her father. She looked so innocent and serene, Adam thought to himself. It was hard to believe that she came about as a result of a hideous monster imprisoning an innocent village girl.

The baby let out a cry that ceased as soon as Adam picked her up. He glanced over at his wife, who was slumbering peacefully in their bed, undisturbed by her daughter's cry. Adam couldn't say he was surprised. Belle slept like a log. It took a lot to wake her up from a deep slumber. Nevertheless, he didn't want to risk waking her before it was necessary. She'd been through a lot over the previous few days. She deserved a good, long rest. He carefully balanced his daughter in one arm and slipped quietly out the door.

The castle was empty for the most part. The majority of the servants had already gone to bed or were relaxing in their chambers. He was surprised to find that many of the candles in the library were already lit. He placed his daughter in the little bassinet that had already been placed next to Belle's favourite chair. As he stared up at the shelves he realised, with a sinking feeling in his chest, that he had left his reading glasses up in his room. Just as he was contemplating asking one of the servants to go upstairs and retrieve them for him, he heard a voice behind him.

"Good evening, Your Highness."

Adam whirled around and saw Belle's father staring up at him curiously. He and Maurice had never exactly been close. In fact, Adam could only recall two conversations they had had together. The first had taken place shortly after the curse had been lifted. Adam had apologised to him and remembered it as being the most awkward conversation he had ever had with anyone. The second time, Adam had asked him for his daughter's hand in marriage. That was the second most awkward conversation he had ever had.

"Good evening, Monsieur Desrosiers," Adam greeted his father-in-law awkwardly. "I, er, didn't see you when I came in."

"I've been designing some toys for my new little granddaughter. I was looking around the library for some ideas," explained Maurice. "What about you? I'd have thought you'd be upstairs with Belle. The birth must have been hard on you too."

"Belle needs to rest more than I do," Adam said, shrugging. "That's why I brought the baby down here."

Maurice peered into the bassinet and looked down at his newborn granddaughter.

"She's beautiful," he cooed. "Looks just like her mother did when she was a few hours old. Belle's hair was a little darker, though. She's got your eyes, too."

"She does look like Belle, doesn't she?" said Adam, beaming fondly down at his daughter.

"I hope you're not disappointed that she is a girl," said Maurice.

"I was hoping for a girl, actually," said Adam, gently wiping some dribble off his newborn daughter's face. "Not that I wouldn't love a son, if we had one. It's just that whenever I thought about our future children, I always pictured us having a daughter that looked just like Belle. To be entirely honest, I couldn't be happier, especially since she doesn't have a tail or horns or anything. That is what I was really worried about."

"Have you and Belle decided on a name yet?" asked Maurice.

"Not yet," Adam answered. "We were hoping to get one settled before the birth, but the list of possible names just kept getting longer and longer."

"That's alright," said Maurice. "Take your time. She's going to have to live with it for the rest of her life. It may as well be a good one. We only settled on Belle's name a few days before her baptism."

"You know, Belle was planning to name her after you if she had been a boy," Adam told him.

"And how did you feel about that?" asked Maurice curiously.

"It's her choice," said Adam, shrugging. "She's the one who carried and gave birth to the baby. I just stood around in the background and gave her a foot rub every now and then."

"You could still name her after me. I kind of like the sound of Princess Mauricina," Maurice joked before his expression turned serious. "You shouldn't put yourself down like that. Just because you didn't carry or give birth to her, it doesn't make you less of a parent than Belle. How do you like being a father so far?"

"It is nice having someone around who didn't know me when I was… you know," Adam admitted, sinking down into the chair next to the bassinet.

"Are you going to tell her?" questioned Maurice, sitting down opposite him.

"I will if she asks," replied Adam. "That's one of the things I'm worried about, actually. I want to give her everything she could ever want, but, at the same time, I don't want to spoil her. I don't want to her to end up like me."

"As long as you raise her to be respectful, tolerant, and kind, you will be fine," Maurice advised. "I know how you feel, though. If I were wealthy, I would have given Belle everything she ever wanted."

"At least I've got Belle around," said Adam. "She can step in if she thinks I'm spoiling her too much."

"For what it is worth, Prince Adam, I think you will be a good father," Maurice told him. "You've done an excellent job of taking care of my Belle. It was hard for me to accept your relationship at first. In my mind, you were still the same beast who imprisoned my daughter, but I trusted Belle's judgment. I must say, you've changed a lot since I first met you, and not just on the outside."

"Thank you, Monsieur Desrosiers," said Adam, smiling. "That means a lot more than you probably realise, and please call me Adam."

"In that case, you can call me Maurice. Unless you'd prefer to call me Papa" said his father-in-law, chuckling.

The entire room was suddenly filled with the sound of the newborn princess's screams. Adam lifted his daughter out of the bassinet and gently rocked her in his arms. The cries quickly died down.

"What's wrong, darling?" Adam cooed softly.

"She likes you a lot already," Maurice observed. "You're very good with her."

"Belle made me read an entire shelf of books about babies before she arrived."

"That sounds like my Belle," said Maurice, chuckling.

"I hope we will have as good a relationship as you and Belle have," said Adam, glancing down at his daughter. "I've always been jealous of it. My parents and I were never close. I certainly would never have traded my freedom for theirs."

"Belle and I had our ups and downs as well. I lost my temper quite a few times," Maurice told him. "But we managed to get through the tough times and now we are closer than ever."

"That's another thing I'm worried about, actually," admitted Adam. "My temper isn't as bad as it used to be, but it can be hard to control at times. I don't want her to be scared of me."

"Just do your best to keep it under control," advised Maurice. "You're going to lose your temper at one point or another. It's inevitable. Try not to take it out on her, or anyone else for that matter. Channel it into something else."

One of the enormous doors flew open and Mrs Potts came running into the room.

"Master, we have an emergency!" she cried.

"What? What's wrong? Is there something wrong with Belle?" asked Adam, his heart pounding frantically.

This is what he had been afraid of. He'd heard of many women who'd had caught a fatal disease soon after giving birth. He'd been terrified of this happening to Belle.

"Belle is fine. It's the baby! She has gone missi- Oh," Mrs Potts stopped herself mid-sentence as she notice the little bundle of blankets in Adam's arms. She quickly stepped out of the room and called down the hallway. "Mistress, everything's alright! The master's got the baby."

Belle walked unsteadily into the room. Her face was red and streaked with tears. Upon seeing her daughter lying in her husband's arms, she let out a relieved sigh and hobbled over to them.

"Belle, what are you doing out of bed?" Adam asked, as sternly as he could.

"I woke up and the baby was gone a-and-"

"Belle, I wish you had more faith in me than that," said Adam, frowning. "I told you I would look after her. I would never let anything bad happen to our child."

"You're right," Belle admitted, wiping her face with her skirt. "It was just a bit of a shock, that's all."

"You're just a bit emotional," said Mrs Potts comfortingly. "It's understandable. You only gave birth a few hours ago."

Maurice gently stroked his daughter's hand. A big grin stretched over Belle's face as she looked over at her husband.

"What is it?" asked Adam, raising an eyebrow.

"You look so cute holding her," said Belle, letting out a small, soft giggle.

"Come on, _ma colombe_, you need to rest," Adam informed her gently.

He carefully held his daughter with his right arm, slipped his other arm around Belle's waist, and walked them out of the room.

"How do you think they'll do?" Mrs Potts asked Maurice

"I have faith in them. They have both changed a lot over the past few years," said Maurice. "Particularly him."

"I wonder which of them the little princess will grow up to be like," pondered Mrs Potts. "Perhaps she will be technically-minded and help you down in your workshop."

"I already have Chip to help me in that regard," said Maurice. "He's turning into quite the little inventor himself."

"Would you like some tea with me, Monsieur Desrosiers?" asked Mrs Potts.

"I really shouldn't be having tea after eight o'clock," said Maurice, glancing over at the clock on the mantel. "It tends to keep me awake."

"Oh, but today is a special day," insisted Mrs Potts.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have one mug," said Maurice. "It is a joyous occasion, after all."

"Exactly, you're never going to be a first-time grandfather again in your life!" exclaimed Mrs Potts. "You may as well enjoy it."

Maurice took Mrs Potts by the arm and the two of them walked out of the library.

* * *

_Okay, that didn't turn out as well as I thought it would. In fact, it's probably the cheesiest thing I have ever written._

_My country doesn't celebrate Father's Day until September, but I figured putting this out now would cause less confusion. I don't really it celebrate it at all. (Or any commercial holiday for that matter.) I just take advantage of these kinds of holidays for fluffy fanfic purposes._

_I wanted to do a little series of Crimson Threads-related mini-vignettes like I did for Mother's Day. Then I realised that most of the fathers in that story were absolute scumbags. So I decided to write this instead. This story isn't really connected to Crimson Threads, just in case you were wondering._

_I'm not sure how well I did in regards to keeping Adam in-character. It's been a while since I've written him post-curse. I am also not sure how I did with the fatherhood advice/portrayal of babies, since I'm a 19 year old girl with no kids and no plans to have any in the near future, but I'm hoping it wasn't too unrealistic._

_Plugtime: I'm currently role playing Belle on Tumblr. So, uh, check that out if you're interested(the link's in my profile). And feel free to join in. Belle's got an excellent Beast, but she could use more friends._


End file.
